Second time around
by delicate-storm
Summary: McDanno. Established relationship. Danny and Steve argue, nothing new there but Grace overhears it.


**A/N Yes I am very hard at work with my Avengers story, this plot bunny was handed to me after a conversation on tumblr. It's my very first attempt in the Hawaii five-o fandom which I have fallen hopelessly in love with, particularly McDanno, they own my life right now…**

"No, no, absolutely freaking not." Danny shoved a hand out and placed it on Steve's chest, holding him at arms length away from him.

"Come on Danny really?" Steve asked peeling Danny's hand off his chest. "Are we really gonna do this again?" Steve had of course known that yes they would do this again. He knew it the moment he had dangled a suspect over the edge of a very, very tall building…_again_. But as far as Steve was concerned the guy was firstly annoying and secondly he had been a no good scumbag who had a game going with his buddies about who could break into the most homes the most in one evening. So as far as Steve was concerned he got what he was coming to him. Even if it was hanging off a building.

However Danny was his usual by the book self and that book was often hurled at Steve who clearly never let any of it sink in because here they were again, having the same old conversation.

"I don't want you in my bed." Danny said.

"Our bed." Steve said.

"Excuse me?"

"I was correcting you."

"Fine I don't want you in our bed!"

"_Daniel_ you're being unreasonable."

"I'm being unreasonable _Steven_?" Danny asked stabbing a finger at his own chest. "I'm the unreasonable one? That's fresh coming from a guy who almost threw a suspect off a building again!"

"I wasn't going to throw him off." Steve contended.

"No, but once he was up on his feet again he lost his breakfast and he puked his guts out on my very new shoes."

"Oh I see that's what this is all about, fine, I'll buy you new shoes tomorrow how's that? You happy now?"

"You're pretty dense you know that."

"So you keep reminding me babe…can we go to bed now"

"I'm going to bed, you're going to the couch!" Danny stomped up the stairs to the second floor, where he usually crashed with Steve. He started questioning every thing where Steve was concerned. He wondered if Steve had some kind of learning disability or if he was just thick headed or if he just liked working on Danny's nerves. Danny was pretty sure it was a combination of all three.

When he reached their bedroom he was about to walk in but at the end of the corridor where Grace's bedroom was he heard a noise and he kept walking to her door. A door that Grace had covered in various stickers, some were cute little animals, one demanded that no one entered. Danny smiled at it, _yeah right_ he thought.

He pushed the door open wider, and saw her roll over very dramatically, very forced like she was in some kind of pantomime. She faced the wall, her back against him.

"Monkey? Everything okay in here?" he asked expecting the light of a torch and a book being behind her still being awake at this hour.

She didn't answer him, and made a huge gesture of being fast asleep.

"Grace I know you're awake." He heard her sigh of annoyance and in that one sound she sounded more like Steve than him or even her mother. She probably had aneurysm face as well.

"Why are you awake?" He walked over and came to sit down on her bed. She rolled over on her back and faced him. And immediately a hot beam of a torch light flashed him in the eyes blinding him temporarily.

"Yo, what's that for?" He tried reaching for the torch but she kept shining it at his face.

"Why are you and Steve fighting?" She demanded like he was a suspect under her interrogation.

"Monkey put that light out." He said as gently as he could. She was becoming more stubborn. Steve said it was all Danny, Danny said it was all Steve. Rachel said it was both of them.

"Not until you answer my question."

"We weren't fighting." Danny said.

"I could hear you from up here."

Crap Danny thought. Hadn't that been there golden rule, no fighting in front of Grace and technically they hadn't fought in front of her. They hadn't even been thinking of her, they had just climbed into each other without remembering she was in the house upstairs, asleep.

"We were just talking babe." He took the torch out of her hand and she released it into his hand without a fight.

"It was really loud Danno."

"It was about work alright, nothing serious there is nothing to worry about now please go to bed."

She looked at him like he was a big fat liar and he didn't like that look on his baby girl.

"Monkey I swear." She cut him short.

"I don't like it when you're fighting." Grace admitted before Danny could assure her she spoke again, her voice was small and fragile and it broke Danny's heart but not as much as what she was about to tell him.

"It's like when you and mommy used to fight." Danny swallowed hard at the lump that had quickly developed in his throat.

He had promised himself that he would never again put Grace through that kind of ordeal. And yet here they were again and all because of one stupid argument. An argument that had not been necessary to bring home, it was work related and it should have stayed there and not been carried home. Inside the comfort of their home where their little girl could hear them.

"Gracie, you'll never know how bad I feel that me and mommy put you through that it wasn't right…and Steve and I we just sometimes talk like that to each other." Grace raised her eyebrows at the word sometimes.

"All right little miss investigator, most times that is how we communicate."

"So you're not angry at Steve?"

"Maybe I am just a little bit." He said with a smile that she matched.

"But you still love him?"

"Of course I love him." Danny said without hesitation.

"Then are you going to get him off the couch?"

"Will that make you happy?" She nodded vigorously.

"Fine. I'll go get him and now you go to bed." She lifted herself off from the bed and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. He breathed her in she smelled of everything good and pure in the world.

"I love you Danno." She said giving him a kiss on his cheek.

"I love you more."

He tucked her back into bed and sat with her until her eyes grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep. He kissed her soft hair and then went back downstairs where the windows were wide open and the blinds flew gently back and forth in the breeze from the ocean.

There was only the sound of the waves and the only other noise contesting with it was Steve's very loud snoring.

Danny sighed, of course he was sleeping like the proverbial rock. As a navy seal the man could probably sleep standing upright or hung upside down with a brass marching band performing around him. The damn navy seal.

But his blanket was hanging precariously off his body and the little cushion meant to be some sort of support was slipping off the couch.

Steve in that position was maybe going to wake up with a stiff neck or a headache. But it didn't seem to bother him one little bit now. As usual Steve would be off to la la land the minute his head hit the pillow. And Danny envied him for it.

Danny repositioned the cushion around Steve's head and pulled the blankets tightly around him, and not once did Steve stir.

"I really hate you, you goofball." He whispered running a hand across Steve's hair. "That's a lie…I love you." He kissed Steve and walked to the nearest chair and threw himself down in it. He couldn't wake Steve up not like when he was sleeping so soundly. And he couldn't go back up stairs to their bed if Grace woke up and saw them apart she would think something was still wrong. She would think Danny was a liar.

And he couldn't live with that thought he could rather live with trying to sleep in the tiniest chair in the room while the waves roared outside making his head hurt. He hardly got any sleep and somewhere close to dawn he had actually fallen into some sort of sleep.

He was woken up what felt like very quickly by the smell of coffee. He sat up and felt the pinch of pain in his neck immediately.

"Ouch." He groaned throwing his head back on the couch again.

"You missed me." Steve said with a smug look on his face. "That's it right, that bed felt rather lonely without me so you came to crash here with me I must say I am very touched."

Danny was about to get into it and then he remembered Grace and last night.

"Grace heard us fighting last night." Danny whispered. And the smug look left Steve's face and instead he looked surprised.

"We weren't fighting."

"Grace used to hear me and Rachel get into each other all the time Steve, until the day we got divorced. Grace thinks the same thing will probably happen to us."

"Shit, you told her that wasn't the case right."

"Of course I did Steve and she made me come get you off the couch but you were asleep already and I didn't want to wake you, so I just stayed here in case she woke up…is she up?"

"Yeah, she's getting ready for school." Steve came over carrying a cup of coffee and two aspirin.

"You're going to need it."

"No more fighting in front of the kid okay." Danny said winching as he sat up.

"We could try not fighting at all but where's the fun in that." Steve suggested and they both nodded but they simultaneously laughed.

"What's so funny?" Grace asked bouncing down the stairs.

"Just talking about our little girl who happens to be a monkey." Steve said.

"A monkey in a school uniform." Danny added and she smiled at them unimpressed but she was happy, because they looked happy and that is all she wanted.

"Ha ha ha very funny." She came over and kissed Danno good morning, he flinched at the hug. He's neck was killing him.

"What's wrong Danno?" She asked with concern.

"Just a bit of a sore neck I'll be fine." Danny looked at his watch.

"You're going to be late for school." He said taking a sip of the coffee.

"The day I am on time is the day it's a miracle." She said.

"We got another letter from the principal." Steve explained.

"And you told her again that you run the most prestigious unit in Hawaii and you have the Governor on speed dial?"

"I didn't use the word prestigious, but we are off the hook for now so I'll drop Gracie off while you can get done in the meantime." Steve said handing Grace, her backpack.

"Have a good day monkey."

"See you in a bit." Steve said kissing Danny and his mouth tasted of freshly brewed coffee.

"Gross." Grace said but she was smiling as she slipped on her backpack because everything was just fine.

**A/N I hoped you enjoyed reading that as much as I liked writing it because it's always fun playing around in a new sandbox. **

**Take care until the next time.**


End file.
